


And so it burnt

by ShadowSelene (Shadowdianne)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 19:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12894711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowdianne/pseuds/ShadowSelene
Summary: Asked by orahlee at tumblr; Write a prompt based on this sentence "Do not challenge me"Suffice is to say... there's slight angst in this one.--------------------Her voice held a chuckle, one that transformed into a long growl as Regina’s eyes closed and opened in quick succession, purple sparks cracking the surface of her skin as she finally focused her gaze once again on the approaching former blonde. Biting on her bottom lip and trying her best not to waver, Regina rose her right hand as a fireball slowly came to life between her spread fingers; its warmth never truly reaching her as the already heated wind flogged her skin.





	And so it burnt

**Author's Note:**

> This in fact comes from an old headcanon of mine I wrote to the point of nausea back when Emma’s Dark One was about to be a thing. Storybrooke about to be destroyed, Regina the only one able to fight against Emma’s magic… I wrote several pieces killing them both, killing one of them or saving Emma just in the last moment. I felt that I could play with that hc for a little today once again so in case some of those that were already around that time I’m sorry -not really- for bringing this back.

 

"Don't challenge me."

“Or what?”

The glint on Emma’s eyes was feral and through the burning smell of wood and the thick coat of fog that covered the town’s line, Regina could see the white-haired woman grinning malevolently as she strode towards her; leather clothes billowing behind her as the sole of her boots cracked the few leaves she hadn’t burnt yet.

“You will punish me?”

Her voice held a chuckle, one that transformed into a long growl as Regina’s eyes closed and opened in quick succession, purple sparks cracking the surface of her skin as she finally focused her gaze once again on the approaching former blonde. Biting on her bottom lip and trying her best not to waver, Regina rose her right hand as a fireball slowly came to life between her spread fingers; its warmth never truly reaching her as the already heated wind flogged her skin.

Beneath her feet, among the destroyed forest floor and the rubble from the near road Emma had already half-destroyed with a blast, pebbles cracked as she adjusted her weight, channeling the coldest part of her as Emma kept on approaching, magic dangling from her fingers like broken glass.

“Emma, please.” Her words elicited a throaty laughter from the blonde; its tone almost maniac as it died down. Raising her own hands, mocking her posture, the white-haired woman let the energy on her fingers condense on a ball, its surface broken in bolts that bit down on the pale flesh of the woman’s palm. The sight was frightening enough and yet, when Regina locked her gaze with Emma’s she could do nothing but feel like crying at the complete emptiness that awaited beyond green irises. Dragging a ragged breath and yet never leaving her guard drop, the brunette pointed her free hand towards the blonde’s figure, the words the blue fairy had told her before as she had stood and declared that if they were going to fight Emma she would be the one to do it, echoing on her mind: _“She may be beyond saving.”_

The white-haired woman’s scoff was enough to make Regina wince as she felt the scalding heat escalate as yet another magic-infused thunder rumbled way above their heads. The fog and smoke covered enough for her to not be able to see anything but Emma’s figure and, for a second, she wondered how easy could it be to cling to the other woman’s frame, to forget. She quickly shook her thoughts away but the feeling, the emptiness, remained as she, slowly, withdrew her hand.

“It’s a pity.” The former blonde said, in an almost too calm tone, her face mapped in sharp angles and lines due to the trapped light her magic produced. “I always thought you would have been amazing at that short of thing.”

Despite her best efforts, Regina’s lips almost trembled, almost, as she heard the despondent tone on the other woman’s voice. For a second, a moment, none of them moved and then, just as Regina let her magic fall -Blue Fairy words be damned, the possibility of killing Emma just unacceptable- Emma lunged forward; her hand stopping centimeters away from Regina’s chest. Close enough that the brunette could feel the burning heat of magic biting into her chest, slicing open her skin in an injury that would be sealed the moment Emma moved away.

Neither of them spoke for the longest of times; the pain making Regina’s muscles tremble as she kept staring at Emma, scorching her with her gaze as the white-haired woman bared her teeth, previous self-assuredness disappearing little by little as the brunette didn’t move or freed herself from her hold.

“Fight.”

The whisper came so softly at first Regina thought she had dreamt it but as Emma said it for a second time -louder this time as the wind around them began to cease- she realized that the blonde was, in fact, trembling as strongly as she did. Touching the roof of her mouth with the tip of her mouth, tasting the ozone beginning to bleed into the air around them thanks to the magic energy that kept on flowing from her to Emma, she smiled sadly and shook her head.

“No.”

“Fight me.”

Emma’s growl sounded more like a sob as she glanced down at her fingers, close but not close enough and yet Regina didn’t move.

“ _Would you use the dagger? On her?”_

“No.”

They had walked one along the other for far too long, Regina thought as she, softly, slowly, grasped Emma’s extended hand with her right, the bony wrist of the younger woman giving away the moment Regina circled it with her fingers, noticing the cold -almost freezing- flesh beneath her tips. They had saved each other, trusted each other, believed on each other and, ultimately, protected each other. She wasn’t going to fight Emma, not today.

“Fi….”

“No.”

Her lips tasted like fire and magic and just that tad of cinnamon Regina had always imagined her skin would taste. She heard a sob but she didn’t stop. She, after all, was also crying.


End file.
